Bangladesh Watch 2015-2019

[Kriterion_BD]

Mustafiz makes his test debut! There is a concern Mushy will overbowl him. Bowled 8 overs in the first session, shouldnt bowl more than 6 more today, IMO. Averaging 84 mph so far and reached 88.6 which is decent for a "left arm medium".

I havent been able to watch yet, but will tune in for the post lunch session. hope Jubair gets a good long spell.

[Kriterion_BD]

Mustafiz gets his maiden wicket(s) in a triple wicket maiden with the older ball!

Amla, Duminy, and de kock as his first scalps...not bad at all! SA in trouble at 173-6!

And now pinpoint yorker to Philander at 141.5 km/h...is there anything Mustafizur cant do? Action like Amir as well!

[SpitfiresKent]

I watched a few overs earlier this morning, Shahid and Mustafizur look pretty decent.

[jaybro]

South Africa struggling here can BD handle the pace and accuracy of Steyn, Philander and Morkel ???

A test win against Sout Africa would rate above anything else they have achieved in my eyes anyways .....

[SpitfiresKent]

A test win against Sout Africa would rate above anything else they have achieved in my eyes anyways .....

Indeed, although we still need to see Bangladesh win a series/show competitiveness away from home, same with Zimbabwe. The only difference is that Bangladesh are a force to be reckoned with in home conditions whereas Zimbabwe aren't.

[Kriterion_BD]

^Agreed. Our away performances need improving, especially outside the subcontinent. However, I can see this side causing some headaches, and possibly real havoc, in seaming/swinging conditions with the attack we have. And if the pitches turn we've got three very good spinners as well.

By the same token, Asian sides often struggle abroad, particularly in ENG/AUS/SA/NZ. I'd be willing to bet the "white" teams do better in Asia than the Asian nations do on their turf. And on current form, I don't see India winning many away Tests, and don't see Lanka winning ANY away Tests. PAK might win a few due to their perennially superior bowling.

Also, we did well at the last WC, despite being the least prepared team out of all 14 nations. We hadn't played in AUS/NZ since 2010 the longest break of all 14 nations, and also had fewer warm up matches than all the Test sides. People forget that we lost to NZ, the form team at the WC, by a mere 3 wickets not because of a lack of cricketing skills, but because of a lack of DRS skills. We had Guptill trapped lbw for 13 or something and in real time it looked like an inside edge - so can't blame umpires or even stand in captain Shakib. Only on replays was it evident that Guppy was plumb. We didn't review, and Guppy hit a 100 to sneak NZ by with just 3 wickets left. We were also unlucky with the umpiring decisions against India which were technically the correct decisions, but oh so close. I think our home series proved that we could have given India a real run for their money on a different day.

That being said, we aren't ODI minnows anymore. But to truly shed the minnow tag we have to win at least 2 Tests in the next couple of years. Even if we beat SA in this Test and don't win any other Tests for 5 years, people will only regard it as the fluke it will be. But the fact that we now have the batting to draw matches at home indicates to me we just need the bowling to step up. Today it did in emphatic fashion. Wasim would have been pround of that spell by Mustafizur on an totally FLAT track. It had reverse swing, yorkers, pace, and guile. Total complete package for a young tearaway.

This is definitely not a 250 wicket, and the biggest Test for our batters awaits. Anything less than 350 and its advantage SA, IMO. 400 and we might just have batted SA out of the game. But that will be tough against an attack featuring Steyn, Morkel, and VP. Steyn already reaching 140 kph in his very first over indicating he's not just going to be bowling lollipops.

[Kriterion_BD]

Also interesting to note, cricinfo just changed their official bowling designations of three of our players. One of our BC members emailed them asking them to "correct" the profiles of Rubel, Taskin, and Mustafizur. Did not expect CI to change their categorization so readily after just 1 fan email, lol.

Rubel who was listed as a "right arm medium fast" is now a "right arm fast".
Taskin who was a "right arm fast medium" is now also a "right arm fast".
Mustafiz who was a "left arm medium" is now a "left arm fast medium".

Rubel and Mustafiz are spot on. Taskin I have only seen bowl 90 mph once, and 144 kph once or twice as well, but he is a consistently 140+ bowler so I guess that is sufficient to be a RF bowler, although he's borderline.

I do remember Ishant Sharma started off as a fast medium, before breifly being listed as a fast, and now back to fast medium again. Varun Aaron too started off as a fast medium before becoming a fast as did Malinga, and Mohammad Amir too I believe.

I do remember Kyle Jarvis was a right arm fast and then got updated (downdated) to a right arm fast medium.

[Kriterion_BD]

Just dug up some stats on cricinfo. Since 2000 Asian sides (IND, PAK, SL) have the following records (wins-loss-draw) in AUS/NZ/ENG/SA:

India: 8-26-16
Pakistan: 7-22-5
Sri Lanka: 4-20-8
Bangladesh: 0-15-0

Good thing is if Bangladesh win just 2-3 tests in those countries over the next 5-10 years we'll catch up to the other Asian sides, more or less.

Meanwhile, ENG/AUS/NZ/SA have the following record in IND/PAK/SL:

Australia: 7-11-5
South Africa: 7-8-7
England: 7-10-12
New Zealand: 1-7-6

Clearly, its far easier for non-Asian sides to adapt to SC conditions than it is for us to adapt to non-Asian conditions. It would also follow that it would be easier for ZIM to adopt to BD conditions than the other way around.

[Kriterion_BD]

80-2 at lunch, not a terrible start but much work remains. Pitch is starting to turn so getting a good lead is crucial if Bangladesh are to have any chance. Mominul has failed at his home ground, his average is falling quickly, probably only a shade above 55 now. He is a second innings maestro, so hopefully he can score big when it really counts.

[Kriterion_BD]

5th and final day of the first Test, don't think there will be anymore play meaning more than half the match has been rained off. Now you know why this is the first series scheduled in BD in July in our 15 year test history.

Not pleased with the weather but frankly, any play is a bonus given how much it rains around this time of year. Should be thankful we got 2 completed innings at least. Bangladesh played quite well overall...match evenly poised atm. I do think the Saffers would have gone on to win, possibly only by a whisker, but no one will ever know. We bag a point and if it rains in Dhaka next week the series will be drawn 0-0, which I won't have a problem with if we put in a toe-to-toe performance like this Test.